Cold Steel
by Airyn Fox
Summary: With Optimus Prime dead and Unicron on the cusp of devouring Cybertron, the Universe holds its breath as a group of Autobots fight their way across the galaxy to save it. But what about the other Cybertronians who survived Autobot City? Join me as I indulge my fantasies and follow some of my favorite characters as they experience the events of...THE TRANSFORMERS!


"What I don't get, is why the Decepticons haven't attacked yet." Red Alert shook his head gesturing at Powerglide with his cup.  
"What're ya talking about, Red? There've been skirmishes all across Cybertron _and_ both Moonbases. I got a tailfin shot off last week!"  
"Nonono. I'm talking about a big push. They've got the fire and mechpower for it...it's not like them to sit with their thumbs up their exhaust ports while we organize and re-arm."  
First Aid drained his engex shot and looked across the bar at the two Autobots.  
"Maybe they're just happy having Cybertron? I mean, Megatron's lieutenants may be psychopathic mass-murderers, but he isn't. All he wanted was a free-well…a complacent Cybertron...that's what he has, isn't it?"  
Red Alert shook his head and Powerglide shrugged at the Medic.  
"Keep it on the down low," the Flier began, "but Prime's getting ready for a fight. That shuttle coming in? It's loading energon for a pre-emptive strike. I thought Ironhide was gonna blow a gasket seeing the 'cons back on Cybertron."  
"Guys, quiet down!" Blurr called, setting down the glass he was cleaning. "The shuttle's coming in." The four bots turned toward the viewer, watching the orange ship approach.  
"You should open a bar for real Blurr, this place is great." Powerglide said, tipping back his drink.  
"That's laser fire!" Red Alert stood so fast his chair toppled. The viewer zoomed in, revealing a ragged hole in the side of the shuttle. They could see Decepticons returning fire with someone on the ground. "I told ya, Powerglide! This is it, Megatron's push!" As they watched the Decepticons leaped from the shuttle.  
"If I'm not mistaken, that ship's on a collision course with the city! At this range, the AA guns won't be able to take it down in time. I've got to help." Powerglide turned to Blurr. "Put it on my tab... And away we go!" He got a running start before turning to alt-mode and flying out through the door. First Aid turned to Red Alert as the emergency claxons sounded, tinting the room red. The security officer sprang to action. "First Aid, with Ratchet off world you're in charge of the medical personnel. We're going to need an area to bring wounded. Blurr, you and I need to report to Ultra Magnus." Blurr leaped over the counter, landing beside Red Alert. "Try to keep up!" First Aid transformed, speeding out of the bar, sirens screaming.

-

Powerglide's afterburners were screaming as he went full throttle toward the oncoming shuttle. He reached it in time to see Thundercracker fly out of the ship. "Not so fast!" Powerglide growled, opening fire with his under slung Gatling laser. A neat row of black scorches appeared across Thundercracker's back.  
"Aah! Autobot glitch! Leave the flying to the Seekers!" the con reverted to robot form, leveling his blaster at the Autobot and firing. Powerglide rolled to the left, firing a missile at the Seeker. Off-balanced by Powerglide's sudden maneuver, Thundercracker took the missile full in the chest. Powerglide left him spinning and smoking toward the earth as he turned back toward the shuttle, which was rapidly approaching Autobot HQ. "C'monc'monc'mon...!" the flier sped the length of the ship, transforming at the nose and grabbing on. He engaged all his thrusters, attempting to divert the ship from the epicenter of Autobot affairs. Finally, pouring all his reserve power into it, the ship began to move. "Almost there...almost...th-"  
The shuttle blew through the communications dish, skidding across the roof of the HQ, before the ceiling supports collapsed and it slammed through the rear of the building into an abandoned courtyard.

-

"Magnus, what's the situation?" Red Alert slid to a halt beside the Autobot Commander. The mech looked up from a tactical map of the city.  
"Not good, Red. We're limited in info since the shuttle took out part of our communications array. The Decepticons are the hammer, and this city's the anvil. Our forces trying to hold them back are getting flattened between the two. I haven't seen a battle this bad since I served with the Wreckers. We're outnumbered, but we do have the better position. We'll be able to hold out for a while, especially if we can keep them away from our gate. Let's hope Prime got our distress call."  
"HEADS DOWN!" someone shouted, and Ultra Magnus grabbed Red Alert, diving to the ground. Overhead a missile impacted, deafening their audio receptors and showering them in debris. The bots were up in seconds.  
"Warpath, did you see where that shot came from?" Magnus called up to the bot by the bunker window.  
"Yessir!"  
"Then I want what's left of them scattered across the hills!"  
"Hey Decepticreeps, this was marked 'Return to Sender'!" the scarlet tank lurched backward as he fired a volley. The hillside erupted in smoke and fire, showering the surrounding area in dirt, wood, and precious metal.  
The Autobot commander looked down as his communicator chirped, flipping open the panel on his forearm. "Magnus we can't stand this much longer! The Decepticons are hitting us harder than we can patch ourselves up. We need reinforcements!"  
"If it gets too hot, you get yourselves out of there."  
"And get shot in the aft? Hell no! We'll stand to the last mech if that's what it takes."  
"I'll spare whoever I can. Until all are one, Brother." Magnus said solemnly, cutting the link. "Red Alert, put a strike team together and reinforce Hound."  
"I'm on it, Magnus. Warpath, Tracks, with me! " Red alert pulled the blaster from his hip, checked the charge, and prepared to face the Decepticons head on.

-

"Don't you dare offline on me!" First Aid shouted as energon sprayed his faceplate. With his hands inside Powerglide, he couldn't wipe the liquid away. At this point he hardly noticed it, however. "Keep talking. Don't you wanna get that medal for saving the HQ?" The red bot turned his head toward First Aid lethargically, optics flickering.  
"Didn't ya hear...? I'm a hero...stop yelling at me." He managed a grin despite the energon leaking down his chin. The medic shook his head, chuckling despite the situation.  
"Here we go...the ruptured fuel pump. Almost...got it!" he pulled his hand free, showing off the twisted metal of what used to be Powerglide's pump. He threw it in a recycler and grabbed a spare, swiftly attaching it. The flier instantly perked up.  
"Wow...Thanks doc, how much I owe ya?" he sat up, chest panels sliding shut and faceplate sliding into place. Despite the scorching and shrapnel holes in him, Powerglide was better off than most of the bots in the impromptu hospital.  
"Kill a few Decepticons for me, and we'll call it even." Powerglide began to stand, and First Aid placed a firm hand on his shoulder.  
"You're not going anywhere yet." First Aid paced around the flier. "In fact...I don't think you'll be going too far for a while...Your thrusters are melted shut."

-

Hound clenched his fists, clearing his throat before speaking.  
"We are the last line of defense between the Decepticons and Autobot City."  
He let that sink in, meeting the optics of the bots crowded around him before raising his voice, and turning to the Decepticon line, searching for Megatron. "You chose to strike at us while we were unprepared! You thought that you'd find us weak. Easy targets! You thought you could just stroll in here and laugh as we let Starscream put your shiny barrel to our heads, and pulled the trigger, cuz you're too much of a glitch to do it yourself! Well, Is that what we're gonna do?"  
"NO!" "NEVER!" "I'D SOONER GET SENT TO THE SCRAP HEAP!" the Autobots cried.  
"Hear that, Megatron?! You'll have to pry every inch of ground from our cold, rusted fingertips! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Hound screamed, pounding a fist against his chest.  
"Loud and clear." Megatron growled, climbing to the front line. The mech towered above his forces, fusion cannon bristling with energy. "Your bravery is to be admired Autobot..." he stepped across the line, the Autobots aimed their weapons. Hound stopped them with a hand.  
Megatron's arm was up before anyone could react. He fired a volley into the Autobot line, and took advantage of the confusion to close on Hound. He was on him in an instant. He swung at the Autobot. Hound raised his arms, taking the brunt of Megatron's built in knuckle-dusters against his metal forearms. Megatron left huge dents as he slammed his fists into them. Hound's defense broke for a breath, but that was all the gladiator needed.  
Megatron grabbed the Autobot's wrist and yanked it to the side, extending the arm. He used it to spin Hound one-hundred and eighty degrees, planting his foot on his back and giving a hard shove. With a screech, the metal around Hound's shoulder buckled and wrent, the arm tearing from his torso. The Autobot stumbled forward, but to his credit didn't scream. He looked his men in the optics before being jerking back like a rag doll. He looked down and saw Megatron's fist clutching his spark chamber, his feet dangling a few feet off the ground. "Admirable...but foolish." The con growled into Hound's audio receptor.  
"I fight for a Cybertron with choices!" Megatron snarled to the Autobots. "So I give you this choice: flee, or fall like your idealistic Commander!" Megatron lifted him higher, presenting the Autobot impaled on his arm and the spark in preparation to crush it.  
"I choose option three: KICK YOUR AFT!" A scarlet tank yelled, causing Megatron to hesitate for an instant before the Decepticon erupted into a fireball, letting Hound fall to the dirt.

-

"What are we doing here, Moonracer?" Seaspray asked, looking over the charts and figures left abandoned by the fighting.  
"Trying to get a vantage point where I can give Megs a new ventilation shaft- one in his head."  
The femme stopped by one of the wall-length windows and activated her built in binoculars. A green shield slid over her optics. "This should do...Primus! Megatron just tore off Hound's arm! Quick, Spray- my rifle!" The yellow and blue Autobot tossed her a metallic rectangle. When it touched her hand, it transformed into a sniper rifle. "Help me with this." she gestured to a desk. The two pushed it over to the window. "Keep watch, I don't want anyone sneaking up on us."  
Seaspray gave a mock salute and took up position by the doorway, readying his laser sub-machine gun.  
Through her scope, Moonracer could see Megatron's savage beating of one of her comrades. She could also see a trio of Autobots approaching at high speed.  
"What's happening?" Seaspray called.  
"Shh! I'm trying to concentrate. But if you must know, Warpath just saved Hound's life."  
"Good on him!"  
"Now quiet while I end Megatron's." Seaspray rolled his eyes, silently praying to Primus she was right about it.  
Biting her lip, she lined up the crosshairs on the silhouette climbing to its feet among the crater. "Smile for the birdie, you tyrannical piece of-"  
KRAKK  
Megatron dodged to the side, as spry as a mech half his size. She lined up for another shot but lost him as a group of Decepticons surged forward to engage the Autobots. "Scrap!" Moonracer shouted, kicking the table. "I lost him." She looked back through the scope. "I can still take out a few of the Genericons..." the rifle spasmed in her hands, leaving a neat hole smoking in the window. One of the camera combiners took the shot in the head. His optics clattered to the dirt a second before his body. "One down...a hundred to go."

-

Smokescreen and Warpath checked their weapons while Red Alert examined the situation. "Hound, what are you doing? He seems to be issuing some kind of challenge to the 'cons. Did he just insult Megatron?!" The magnifier slid up from his optics, and he turned to his fellow Autobots. "Alright, we need a plan."  
"What do you suggest?" Smokescreen asked.  
"Let's just storm them! When they see us the other Autobots will rally behind us."  
"And the Decepticons will rally against us, we've gotta be smarter about this."  
"Look!" Smokescreen pointed. "Megatron's going to kill Hound!"  
"We gotta do something! Red Alert!" Warpath gestured wildly.  
"There's nothing we can do! Not against Megatron!"  
"Watch me." The tank snarled, assuming alt-mode and firing at the Decepticon warlord.  
It all happened in an instant, but for Red Alert it seemed like an eternity. Warpath's shot connected with Megatron, knocking him away from Hound. He heard a shot in the distance, and Megatron dodged it nimbly. In what seemed like slow motion, the Decepticons and Autobot surged forward like great thunderheads, and when they clashed it was a deafening thunder. Red Alert's feet moved on their own and he was amidst the fray before he knew it. He fired point blank at a Decepticon whose name he didn't know. Through the hole in the 'con's chest Red Alert saw Blitzwing's fist connect with a young Autobot, knocking the mech's mouth plate askew. Red dashed behind him as Blitzwing recoiled. He kicked the bigger mech in the back of the knee, causing him to collapse. The Autobot he'd rescued followed it up with a savage knee to Blitzwing's face. They drew their blasters to finish him off when two more Decepticons collided with them. It was two of the Reflector combiners.  
"Where's your pal?" the bot jibed.  
"One of you cowardly Autobots shot him from safe in some hidey hole!" the Decepticon cried, firing. The Autobot took the blast in the shoulder, wincing in pain. Without skipping a beat, he fired from the hip sending the 'con reeling.  
Red Alert was busy grappling the final mech.  
"Why...won't...you...die!" Red growled, firing his shoulder cannon into the 'con's face. Red Alert let out a long sigh, letting the shattered remains of the Camera combiner to the dirt. "What's your name?" Red Alert huffed, wiping energon from his face.  
"Chromedome. Used to be in the Cybertron Defense Force. I came to Earth to try out a quiet life. Looks like Primus had other plans for me...I joined you guys because I can't just sit around waiting..."  
"Well...I'm glad to have you." Red Alert offered his hand. Chromedome sighed, taking it.  
"You're not so bad yourself."

-

"The fighting at the front line is starting to break up, just in time for sunset… but Megatron's flanking with another force. Looks like he's got the Constructicons with him, you know what that means..."  
"Yeah...Devastator. I gotta call it in to Magnus. If Devastator hits when they're unprepared, we're done for." Seaspray flipped his communicator open.  
"You know as soon as you send that the 'cons'll be all over us, right?" Moonracer began packing her rifle.  
"Let 'em come. Ultra Magnus, this is Seaspray. Batten down the hatches, Megatron's pet Gestalt is coming your way."  
"Thanks for the heads up. Til all are one."  
"Til all are one. Seaspray out."  
"C'mon 'spray, we need to get out of he-"  
Moonracer was cut off as a missile pierced the window whizzing past her and Seaspray, exploding against the far wall.  
"Down!" The mech shouted, opening fire at the Seeker hovering just outside the window. Laser fire pinged off Skywarp as he fired another missile. Seaspray rolled to the side. The Decepticon transformed and dove into the building. His heels screeched across the floor as he lunged at the Autobot. Seaspray parried Skywarp's blade with his blaster. He raised the gun to fire and Skywarp dipped low, swinging his blade in a wide arc to drive it into the Autobot's side. Energon sprayed Skywarp's face, turning it into a ghoulish visage. The Autobot took advantage of the proximity and locked his opponent in a headlock, slamming his fist hard into Skywarp's face, knocking him back. Seaspray swung again, but the con was too nimble and leaped out of reach.  
"Stop running and fight, coward!" the Autobot grit his teeth, wiping energon from his chin. Skywarp snarled and ran at the Autobot, activating his thrusters at the last second as he launched a punch at Seaspray. Spray dug his heels in and swung a punch of his own. The two hands of steel met with a thunderous clang, stress fractures appearing in both their arms. With a grunt of exertion, Seaspray drove his fist harder tearing through the seeker's arm. Skywarp howled in pain. Seaspray's hand snapped out, grabbing Skywarp's head. With a squeeze, the 'con's head crumpled like a tin can. Seaspray stumbled forward, propping himself against the nearest desk with one hand as the other covered the ragged wound in his side. Moonracer had been knocked unconscious by the second missile, and was now coming to.  
"Spray, are you alright?!" she cried, rushing over and taking his arm over her shoulders.  
"I'll be fine. C'mon, there'll be more coming."  
The two Autobots limped into the lift. Moonracer hit 'descend'. She pulled up a holomap and turned it so Seaspray could see also.  
"I say we make for the Field Hospital. The 'cons are sure to strike there first."  
"Sounds like a pl-"  
Seaspray was cut off by a sudden rumble.  
"Moonracer...is the building leaning?!"  
The femme's gaze shot upward as something groaned. Moonracer activated her UV filters.  
"Sea...Oh Primus!" The bigger bot flung his arms around her as the lift's housing broke, sending them hurtling toward the earth.


End file.
